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The Backstory of Our Dogs

fluffypoptarts

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I love that Bear decided that he was home and everyone just had to go with it.

I also love that greys are so big and powerful but are giant softies underneath it all. Your dogs have all mastered that soulful expression - it must be hard to say no to them.
Lol yeah, I didn’t expect that from such a timid guy, but it’s like somehow it never occurred to him that it could be otherwise! :D

Oh yes, greys are known for their soulful expressions. They capture your heart quickly and are not above exploiting their power at times! It is definitely hard to say no to them, and they are smart dogs. ;)
 

fluffypoptarts

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:D
Yep... fits like a giant glove.
Lol, yes! You definitely feel it when he’s sleeping on you, but he’s just such a sweet little sugar baby, who can complain?! :xflove: He’s much more solid and dense than JJ, but I don’t think he actually weighs a whole lot more.
 

Menagerie Mama

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What a beautiful pack!!!
Lol, of course, I’m terribly biased in favor of sighthounds as I am a Whippet girl...love all animals, but didn’t really think I’d ever have a dog.
Dog sitting for friends convinced me that I *needed* one, BUT I sort of turn into Howard Hughes around most dogs; can’t resist petting and cuddling them, immediately need to wash the “tacky” feeling off my hands after doing so. A ton of breed research later and I ended up with my heart dog, a Whippet I named Portia (Shakespeare’s Portia was beautiful, intelligent, kind, had a happy story...also, love the quote “So shines a good deed in a naughty world” which also happens to sum up how I felt about Portia). Portia and my GCC BellaBelle loved each other (never relaxed my vigilance with interaction, and never had an issue). A year after needing to say goodbye to Portia, BellaBelle still asks for her at times, saying “go get Portia? better get Portia!”

Before Portia was diagnosed as terminal in April 2019, I had been considering getting a puppy, so the baby would learn some of Portia’s mannerisms and ways...after all, Portia and I lived together so seamlessly! A couple of months into Portia’s treatments, my human guy encouraged me to ask the specialist vet about the puppy idea, and to my surprise the vet said it could be good for Portia’s morale. The deciding factor was my fear of an inability to cope when I inevitably lost Portia, so, six months before Portia’s worst decline and goodbye, eight week old “Polly”/Hippolyta came home.

BellaBelle approves our newer flockmate, and has even started training Polly! BellaBelle goes to the lowest corner of her cage and calls Polly over by making kissing noises and saying, “kiss you beak? wanna kiss you beak!” Polly trots over and puts her nose to the bar space, BellaBelle kisses her on the nose with a loud “smacking”/kissing noise, then throws Polly a Zupreem pellet

Sorry this became so long...
 

fluffypoptarts

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@Menagerie Mama Thank you!! Sighthounds are so wonderful. Such a touching story about Portia...I’m so sorry that she had to leave you too soon. :(

I laughed about your GCC calling Polly and tossing her a pellet. Excellent trainer, lol.

We do hope to get a purebred whippet someday as we’ve met several and are in love with them. :xflove:
 

Menagerie Mama

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Thank you, @fluffypoptarts, it was too soon, though I was lucky enough to have more than 10 years -and countless adventures- with Portia:heart:

Polly is a totally different personality (of course, Portia’s puppy insanity might be blurred by the years in my memory!), but like all Whippets, is sweet, smart, funny, loving, manipulative, “poetry in motion”...
Polly is also related to Portia; she is granddaughter or great-granddaughter to one of Portia’s littermates
 

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fluffypoptarts

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The old guy has been having some struggles with coordination of his feet on the tile since Sai passed away, and hasn’t been wanting to get up without assistance. Today we came home to find he had lost his balance and somehow managed to hit his elbow on the floor. He then soiled himself and wasn’t able to get out of it, so we found him lying in it when we got home. He looked so sad and helpless. :( He was having a hard time staying up long enough for me to wash the poo off of him. He’s toweled off and lying on the heating pad.

The vet is booked up tonight and tomorrow, but they’re going to squeeze him in tomorrow. Hoping he’s okay. :(

6C696162-D2D7-4DBA-863F-87C49264D39F.jpeg
 

Menagerie Mama

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Oh, poor man...hope he wasn’t there long before you came to the rescue with gentle cleaning and tucking up warm and cozy. Prayers for a good vet visit:sadhug2:to your handsome boy
 

tka

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Poor lad :( Everything crossed for you.
 

fluffypoptarts

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Oh, poor man...hope he wasn’t there long before you came to the rescue with gentle cleaning and tucking up warm and cozy. Prayers for a good vet visit:sadhug2:to your handsome boy
I don’t think so, but he breaks our heart with his sad, sweet face and his distress. Thank you, we’re hoping it’s something we can help him with.
 

fluffypoptarts

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Poor lad :( Everything crossed for you.
The animals have been hitting us hard the last few weeks. Not long after that, one of the lovebirds was having trouble breathing and sneezing/squeaking, almost like he had something in his airway he was trying to clear. It was really scaring me. We were minutes from loading him into the car (making calls to ascertain emergency avian vet availability) when suddenly he was fine again. He’s still getting an appointment tomorrow!
:watching:
 

Menagerie Mama

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Oh, yes, what a sight hound can convey with expression of beautiful face and eyes goes straight to your heart...can fill the heart, or break it, lighten it, and inhabit it
 

fluffypoptarts

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Oh, yes, what a sight hound can convey with expression of beautiful face and eyes goes straight to your heart...can fill the heart, or break it, lighten it, and inhabit it
So true. They are really special dogs; such beautiful, soulful creatures. Their eyes are incredible. They go straight to your heart.
 

Ankou

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:(
Poor old man. Were he and Sai very close?

I hope you get good news at the vet and he improves dramatically.
I'm terrified for him, that doesn't sound good at all. His issues remind me of when I lost Shadow, I pray Senny has a better outcome.
 

fluffypoptarts

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:(
Poor old man. Were he and Sai very close?

I hope you get good news at the vet and he improves dramatically.
I'm terrified for him, that doesn't sound good at all. His issues remind me of when I lost Shadow, I pray Senny has a better outcome.
We didn’t think so because Senny has always kind of existed in his own world (sweet but a bit aloof), but I think maybe he was more attached to Sai than we realized.

I hope so, too. :( We have a very good vet tech friend and we showed her a video of Senny to see what she thought. She is concerned about him because he seems out of it (not “mentally appropriate”) and sounds ataxic from our descriptions of his wobbly movements and trouble with coordination. Could even be focal seizures, but she said it strongly seems neurological, which we agree with. She said it doesn’t sound good and said we should be prepared just in case. And we are. He has made it longer than we thought he would with having had such a hard life. He may even still have another year or so if this turns out to be something treatable.
 

fluffypoptarts

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We got Senny in to see the vet this morning. He could hardly walk and we had to partially carry him. He failed all of the neurological tests the vet did for responsiveness, feeling, correcting foot placement, etc. We’re trying some steroids to see if they help, but if not, we might have another tough choice to make. :( 2021 is starting much like 2020 ended.
 

Menagerie Mama

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We got Senny in to see the vet this morning. He could hardly walk and we had to partially carry him. He failed all of the neurological tests the vet did for responsiveness, feeling, correcting foot placement, etc. We’re trying some steroids to see if they help, but if not, we might have another tough choice to make. :( 2021 is starting much like 2020 ended.
Thank you for updating those of us watching and waiting to hear. I’m so sorry that all of you are going through this!
Steroids can be effective very quickly; praying that the meds can ease Senny’s difficulties. Was the vet able to at least reassure you that the neuro deficit is impairing function only, that your boy is not suffering pain?
 
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